Robin Tunney started modeling when she was less than a year old and had been in 45 commercials by the time she was 11, which made her one of the hardest-working elementary schoolers I have ever known.

Tunney, 38, still has that drive, as she films the hit CBS drama "The Mentalist," often putting in 14-hour days, shooting from July to May. On the show, Tunney plays California Bureau of Investigation agent Teresa Lisbon opposite Simon Baker's Patrick Jane.

Tunney says her favorite part about playing Lisbon is getting to portray a strong female: "I like not having to play the wife who cries a lot. I don't think (Lisbon) is a well-adjusted person, and she has a really hard time connecting with people, but she is a female boss, which is rare in the male-dominated police world."

A Palos Heights native, Tunney attended St. Ignatius High School before moving to LA at age 18. Tunney worked on a number of TV projects before getting noticed in "Empire Records" and "The Craft."

Though she still lives in LA, Tunney says she tries to get back to her hometown as much as she can, joking that she is related to "half the people in Chicago."

"My mother had eight siblings, and they all have three to five children," Tunney said, "So if someone walks up to me and says they are my cousin, they probably are."

Tunney is not the only famous member of her family: one cousin is Tom Tunney, alderman of the 44th Ward, whose name has been mentioned among possible 2011 mayoral candidates and whose job she says is a lot harder than hers.

"Tom is so awesome and so philanthropic," Tunney said. "I am honestly so excited to be related to him. I make 44 minutes of TV, and he changes the world."

As far as what this season of "The Mentalist," which starts Thursday, has in store for Lisbon, Tunney let a couple of details slip.

"I am being pursued by a man, which has not happened before on the show," Tunney said. "Obviously, my relationship with Patrick Jane will continue to get closer, and because she has that close relationship, Teresa is starting to smile a bit more.

"Yes, this is a show where somebody gets murdered, but it is not violent. We approach solving each case with a bit of humor, and I think it is that lightness that keeps people watching"